The government and citizens should largely change their particular pattern of energy production and its perfect usage to properly limit emissions of greenhouse gases plus thus the magnitude of climate changes under given situation and circumstances. Moreover, they can eagerly wait for changes to happen and largely accept the damages, losses and suffering that arise to a large extent. As much as possible, they can perfectly adapt to expected and actual changes. They can also seek the unproven ‘geoengineering’ related solutions in order to counteract certain level of the climate changes that might otherwise happen.
According to Tutulmaz, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere before the industrial revolution it was at 278 particles per million (786). The last measurement of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in December 2015 is at 402.56 ppm (“Global Climate Change”). The ocean plays a main part in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere but at a consequence to the ocean and its organisms. An estimated 30% of the carbon dioxide released from human activity has been absorbed into the ocean (Tutulmaz 786). Too much carbon dioxide in the ocean cause acidification which alters the pH of the water making the environment harsh for marine
During the last century, burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. This happens because the coal or oil burning process combines carbon with oxygen in the air to make CO2. To a lesser extent, the clearing of land for agriculture, industry, and other human activities has increased concentrations
For the past few million years, the Earth’s climate has been changing in a periodic fashion between warming trends and deep freezes. The levels of C02 in the atmosphere tend to show a close correlation with these temperature changes. Evidence for this on a timescale of millions of years can be seen using the Geocarb III model, about 800 million years ago, the C02 saturation was nearly 7000 parts per million (Berner, "Geocarb III: A Revised Model of Atmospheric CO2 over Phanerozoic Time"). Today the C02 concentration seems to be increasing but is still below 500 parts per million ("Scripps CO2 Data - Mauna Loa Observatory", 2014). The entire process of these changes in temperature and C02 occurred without any human intervention. The human species has only been in existence on a timescale of thousands of years and cannot remain on Earth for an i...
When people burn fossil fuels to accumulate and produce energy a substance called carbon is produced. Carbon is released into the air in a form known as carbon dioxide. Carbon moves throughout the biosphere on the planet as it is recycled and reused. Carbon exists in the earth’s atmosphere in two common forms which are methane and carbon monoxide. These gases absorb and retain heat in a process known as the greenhouse effect. The Planets natural greenhouse effect makes life possible by regulating our temperature. It turns out that adding too much to the greenhouse effect can have horrible consequences on the environment. Each year, five and a half billion tons of carbon is released by burning fossil fuels and of that three billion tons enters the atmosphere. The remaining carbon usually gets absorbed by the oceans.
Nine of the eleventh hottest years in the 20th century have occurred since 1985 which is not consistent with a natural trend. Glacier Shrinkage is occurring at a much faster rate than can be explained by natural trends. Even when the heat effects of volcanoes and other misleading weather phenomena that would make the temperature of the earth seem higher than it actually is being taken out of consideration studies show that the surface temperature of the earth has been increasing at a rate of 0.17 degrees Celsius per decade. These figures are not consistent with a natural trend, and, when one considers the tens of thousand of years in which humans have inhabited the earth, and that humans have really only started burning fossil fuels heavily since the industrial revolution, and the fact that the world’s population is only going to increase, this number is dauntingly
We live in a world where many people either do not know much about the issue of climate change or hold many misconceptions. Climate change skeptics often cite that since the climate has changed in the past, it does not matter that the climate is changing now. Science says that carbon dioxide is the main factor when it comes to what contributes to climate change. It is not necessarily the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but rather the rate at which it is changing. There have been periods in history in which carbon dioxide levels have been high, but “Life, ocean chemistry, and atmospheric gasses had millions of years to adjust to those levels” (howardlee, 2014). There have been other times when carbon dioxide levels have changed rapidly, and this has resulted in severe consequences: “When CO2 levels jumped rapidly, the global warming that resulted was highly disruptive and sometimes caused mass extinctions” (Howardlee, 2014). Current data shows that humans are producing this kind of rapid change, and so we must go forward attempting to mitigate large emissions of greenhouse
dioxide is trapped in the atmosphere and this is what causes the climate to raise. Deforestation
It is the responsibility of the developed world to change. They have the resources and technology to significantly curb emissions and dampen the effects of climate change. As the world’s second largest emitter of Co2, and as the world’s largest economy, the US must become a leader in the battle against climate change. However, historical incidents of environmental degradation indicate that will power is simply not enough. Unless environmental problems are seen and felt, the US population has been slow and reluctant to act. Unfortunately this lack of will power is still present. As a citizen of the United States, I see no hope for change without the help and intervention of government. Without economic incentive, individuals and firms will not change. I believe that the US government must intervene and implement emission reduction policies, and work toward limiting emissions to the earth’s natural sink function.
... is by replanting trees and other plants. That’s going to make it a lot easier to get rid of some of that extra CO2 in the atmosphere. There are many nations and communities that have started to reforest the wildlife and many others need to take charge and do the same in order to truly make a difference (Chiras).
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced either by natural sources, such as volcanic eruptions or human activities like deforestation that influence CO2 concentration levels. CO2 is essential for life on earth; therefore, it is important to regulate CO2 concentration levels derived from human activities. Further, the increases of CO2 exerted into the earth’s atmosphere for the past several thousand years are attributed to many CO2 sources induced by humans.
Seeing climate change as an emergency doesn't always make people make actions because of many psychological barriers that limit the mitigation of climate change. Frantz and Mayer in their article" The Emergency of Climate Change: Why are We Failing to Take action? "Published in Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy (2009) and Gifford in " The Dragons of Inaction. Psychological Barriers That Limit Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation" published in American Psychology (2011), discussed the reasons why the American public are failing to take action to Climate Change even though they know that it is a grave issue. They also offered some suggestions that help in getting over those barriers.
Burning fossil fuels like gasoline, diesel and coal releases carbon into the atmosphere. Every time you drive your gas...
Just because it is not happening here, it does not mean it is not happening. That is what reporter Elizabeth Kolbert would have said to the entire American population on climate change if she could go back in time. Kolbert, in her New Yorker article “The Big Heat”, argues that Americans have been extremely busy handling insignificant situations happening in their regional level that they have forgotten to deal with the most atrocious social issue of all: global warming.
The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is absorbed by plants and converted into sugar by photosynthesis; animals eat plants and by breaking down sugars and releasing carbon into the atmosphere, oceans, and soil; the decomposing of the organisms, such as plants and animals, carbon returning to the environment; carbon is also exchanged between the oceans and the atmosphere. This happens in both directions in the interaction between air and